WIZARD & GLASS - STEPHEN KING Charyou Tree... This book is always a joy to read. Roland's story is one laced with love and loss, hope and tragedy, and this may be one of King's best "small town horrors". The journey to the Tower may halt for 800 pages, but its the best 800 pages in the series 🤠

DAMN FINE STORY - CHUCK WENDIG A great writing aid, particularly with how to link all your storytelling elements back into your most important part; your characters. Wendig explains things clearly using very well known examples to further clarify his point. Highly recommended!

THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS - STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES SGJ has such a unique voice, one that takes me a while to get into the rhythm of, but one that always has something to offer. Like TBHH, TOGI is a novel that has so much meat to it, and oftentimes, discussing the themes is just as good as the book itself

THE PARIAH - ANTHONY RYAN A very strong character voice cannot hide an aimless, meandering narrative. This feels like a prelude to the actual story in book 2 & 3. However, the exploration of figureheads and iconic people, and the feverish devotion they conjure, was masterful and interesting.

RETRIBUTION FALLS - CHRIS WOODING Action-packed steampunk fantasy at its finest! I love the anti-hero crew of the Ketty Jay and the swashbuckling adventure they go on to clear their names. This was exciting and cinematic, with plenty of deep, surprising character moments to boot!

UNIVERSAL HARVESTER - JOHN DARNIELLE I don't think this should be marketed as horror, as it's essential a literary novel with some mild creepiness. That aside, I did find parts disturbing, and I enjoyed its look at mothers, the absence of important figures in our lives, and the effect it has on us.

MORTAL ENGINES - PHILIP REEVE A steampunk, sci-fantasy dystopian post-apocalyptic adventure that was a whole lot of fun and a whole lot more brutal than I was expecting! Super inventive, great characters, and a good look at governments devouring all they can get. On to book 2 soon!

BODIES OF WORK - CLAY MCLEOD CHAPMAN Clay always finds a way to take a unique storytelling perspective and spin it in a way that makes it very compelling to read. This is a wholly sad novella to read, all about how the victims of serial killers are lost to the fame and focus of their murderers.

LOST IN THE GARDEN - ADAM S. LESLIE Ethereal, dreamlike, hazy, this jaunt through perpetual summer English countryside village life - filled with wandering semi-ghosts and the feeling that reality itself is slipping - made for a book that was very atmospheric.

HAPPY HOUR - GEMMA AMOR A revenge story garnished with an twist of lemon and an umbrella. Happy Hour gets deep into the head of our main swanky bar owning protagonist, who I am still trying to decide if he is a psycho or not. Glorious satire of 90s/00s UK celeb gossip and club culture.

NEON MOON - GRACE R. REYNOLDS A slasher novella that weirdly reminded me of Terrifier (even though this isn't just pure gore-porn like that movie), but with a country and western theme. Enjoyable, but it does have things that didn't work for me. Check the trigger warnings before you dive into this

A SHORT STAY IN HELL - STEVEN L. PECK The award for most misleading title goes to... But jokes aside, this is an existential, philosophical crisis in novella form. Incomprehensible in its scope. In just 99 pages, this story manages to ask questions bigger than any of us will ever be able to answer.

THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS - CHUCK WENDIG Liminal space horror at its finest, this is a fable about the descent into unresolved childhood traumas, our darkest thoughts, and how these internal horrors build a home within us. Compelling, amazing character work, this book strikes for the heart!

FABULOUS BODIES - CHUCK TINGLE Another bold, wacky Tingle adventure romp, this time with an influencer protag and an undead queer pop iconic. I felt this was maybe too overt and simplified, almost like it was written with a screen adaption in mind. However, it was still an exciting, fun, wild ride!

KISS SLAY REPLAY - RACHEL HARRISON I'd happily be stuck in a time loop with this book! This is a book that I read at the right time and that now holds a special place in my heart. A whole lot of fun, but with a message that feels like a hand on your shoulder. The only way out is through ❤️

SARAFINA - PHILIP FRACASSI Immersive as it is brutal, harrowing, and horrifying. A tale of war and horrors both human and otherwise that shape us in that period between childhood and adulthood. Full of guilt, and never shying away from the worst aspects of us all. Historical horror at its best!

TRAPS & SPECTERS - PHILIP FRACASSI Really great collection of some of the most spiteful stories I've read in horror fiction this year. Also, it's a collection without a single dud, which is amazing! Each story feels like a proper gut punch, and I wouldn't have it any other way

SCRATCH MOSS - DAVID BARNETT The darkest of the three novels so far, this Russian Doll of a story goes deeper into the history of one of Barnett's small rural town settings than ever before, slowly unveiling something more grand, timeless, and evil than before. Probably my favourite so far!

SCUTTLER'S COVE - DAVID BARNETT Barnett continues his extremely unputdownable and incredibly readable folk horror novels, this time set in a quaint Cornwell seaside town. Well paced, creepy, great characters, further exploration of a bigger narrative at play, yeah I love these books!

HARD LUCK JENNY - DAVID SODERGREN I wasn't expecting a dark comedy, but this was really quite funny! Weird Scottish village won't let a man leave after he stops for a piss at the local boozer. I liked how utterly bonkers and bloody it was, even if the final few pages are a complete tonal shift

WITHERED HILL - DAVID BARNETT A dual timeline narrative that moves like a thriller dressed in creeping forest attire of a folk horror. Each chapter gives you an answer to a question, then hooks you along by creating another mystery. Unsettling, full of twists, and plenty of hints at a wider mythos!

THE RAVEN SCHOLAR - ANTONIA HODGSON A fantasy murder mystery intertwined with court politics, a brutal tournament, an intriguing and well-realised setting, and a big heaping of funny character moments. So many twists and turns that knocked my socks off. This was just a joy to read!

THE LONG LOW WHISTLE - LAUREL HIGHTOWER A claustrophobic, dark, dank, gory romp of a story. Laurel never hides from the bloody, gruesomeness of it all. A great character of casts, and a whole lot of horror movie-like fun! I read this one sitting because it hooked me with it's sharp teeth.

THE HAAR - DAVID SODERGREN A book about an old lady falling in love with a shapeshifting sea blob is somehow not the most far-fetched element of this book. A lot of this novel is very one-note to the point of being unbelievable. I did love Muriel and the creature, and the body horror is top notch!

LEVIATHAN WAKES - JAMES S. A. COREY THIS IS HOW YOU DO A BOOK ONE IN A SERIES! OMG why have I put off reading this for so long! Great characters with explosive, propulsive storytelling, gripping from the start, and epic in scale. And it promises to only get bigger!

SIEGE OF VRAKS - STEVE LYONS Reads like a history text about the Siege of Vraks with the occasion moment of character in it. A bit dry, frankly, but the Death Korps of Krieg do always have something fascinating about that them to follow in each of their stories.

EVERYTHING'S EVENTUAL - STEPHEN KING I don't really hear Constant Readers talking about this collection but it was excellent! Some of my now favourite King shorts are in here, including All That You Love Will Be Carried Away, Riding The Bullet, Luckey Quarter, Road Virus etc.

THE OTHER - ANNIE NEUGEBAUER Somehow more intense than its already nerve-wracking predecessor, The Other is laser-focused, extremely gripping, and the definition of a high-concept thriller. I could read an endless number of these novellas and not get bored!

THE CARETAKER - MARCUS KLIEWER A masterclass in building tension and raising stakes, and really getting into the psyche of our (great) protagonist. It's a book that feels like it was written with a movie adaption in mind (apt now after the recent announcement). A true thrill-ride!

TRAD WIFE - SARAH LANGAN Another banger of a book called Trad Wife. Sarah Langan weaves a dread-filled neo-gothic horror story that never loses it's focus even as the story spirals. In the same way that Get Out & Weapons slowly accelerate towards the cliff, this does the same (and it's sooo good!)